Articles, Installer Focus

How to manage the problem of poor indoor air quality

Poor indoor air quality and indoor air pollution are becoming increasingly prevalent in the UK and the potential health implications are worrying. Paul Collins – Technical Services Manager at NICEIC – looks at the measures needed to manage this ongoing problem.

Modern homes are now designed to retain as much of their heat as possible in order to adhere to energy efficiency legislation. This obviously makes sense from an economical point of view, but the drawback is that the natural infiltration of fresh air is reduced.

An obvious solution to the problem of sealed up homes is adequate ventilation. In new homes, Building Regulations specify the need for ventilation, but it is almost always an afterthought and is fraught with problems. Report after report has highlighted poor installation practices – meaning that the ventilation systems do not achieve the rates they are designed to in order to protect human health.

For contractors installing ventilation systems, it is imperative they are done so correctly and to the appropriate standards.

Commissioning and Notification requirements in England & Wales

Approved Document F – Ventilation covers the requirements for ventilation systems in England and Wales and requires all fixed mechanical ventilation systems, where they can be adjusted, to be commissioned and a commissioning notice given to the local Building Control Body (BCB) as well as requiring that the work complies with any other requirements such as Part P and Part L of the Building Regulations.

NOTEThis is only required where ‘building work’ is carried out and this is defined in Schedule 3 of the Building Regulations.

For mechanical ventilation systems installed in new dwellings, air flow rates shall be measured on site and a notice given to the Building Control Body (BCB). This shall apply to intermittently-used extract fans and cooker hoods as well as continuously running systems.

The owner shall be given sufficient information about the ventilation system and its maintenance requirements so that the ventilation system can be operated to provide adequate air flow.

Notification of work covered by the ventilation requirements

In most cases where it is proposed to carry out notifiable ventilation work on a building, it will be necessary to notify the work to a BCB in advance. This notification would usually be by way of a full plans application or a building notice given to a local authority, or an initial notice given jointly with the approved inspector. However, there are three circumstances where such work need not be notified to a BCB in advance:

1. Competent person self-certification schemes
It is not necessary to notify a BCB in advance of work that is to be carried out by a person registered with a competent person self-certification scheme, such as the NICEIC Ventilation Scheme.

2. Emergency repairs
Where the work involves an emergency repair – e.g. to a failed fan – in accordance with regulation 12(8) of the Building Regulations there is no need to delay making the repair in order to make an advance notification to the BCB where this is not practicable. However, in such cases it will still be necessary for the work to comply with the relevant requirements and to give a notice to the BCB at the earliest opportunity – unless an installer registered under an appropriate competent person scheme carries out the work.

3. Minor works
Where the work is of a minor nature as described in the schedule of non-notifiable work (Schedule 4 to the Building Regulations), the work must still comply with the relevant requirements but need not be notified to the BCB. In relation to mechanical ventilation systems such work includes:

• Replacement of parts, or the addition of an output or control device where testing and adjusting is not possible or would not affect the system’s energy efficiency.
• Provision of a self-contained mechanical ventilation or air-conditioning appliance provided that any electrical work is exempt from a requirement to give advance notice to a BCB, and testing and adjustment is not possible or would not affect its energy efficiency, and the appliance is not installed in a room containing
an open-flued combustion appliance. Examples might be a cooker hood or a bathroom extract fan that cannot be adjusted from their factory settings.

Refurbishing an existing kitchen or bathroom

If any of the work being carried out in the kitchen or bathroom of an existing building is ‘building work’ (as defined in Regulation 3 of the Building Regulations), the Regulations require that the installer complies with the appropriate requirements of the Regulations, and in doing so does not make compliance with other requirements of the Regulations, including ventilation, worse than before.

If they carry out any ‘building work’, and there is an existing extract fan or passive stack ventilator (or cooker hood extracting to outside in the kitchen), they should retain or replace it. However, if there is no existing ventilation system, they need not provide one. Replacing an extract fan or cooker hood with a similar type, and using the existing cabling, need not be notified to a BCB.

If a combustion appliance is installed, Approved Document J: Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems should be consulted.

Documentation to be handed over to the end-user

Finally, when all the work is completed and certified correctly, the final action should be to hand over all appropriate documentation to the user. This should include an operation and maintenance manual with specific instructions on how and when to use the ventilation system, including information on the intended use of available fan settings and when the system components should be cleaned and maintained.

Completion of inspection checklist and air flow measurement test sheet should also be signed, and completed and included in the operation and maintenance manual.